toblix

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

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Yeah, Chloe's eyes are weirdly moist. I also think that some of the body proportions are a bit squished. It's almost as if they made a great model, decided it was too tall, and fixed it by reducing the "height" parameter without changing anything else.

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Yeah, she feels like watching a flat film through a cinemascope lens. But everything else in the game looks so great. I don't get it at all.

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Well damn. Just finished chapter 18. This game is fucking great. I knew there was going to be a supernatural element to this game, just like last time, but I didn't anticipate that it would freak me out as much as it does.

Goddamn demon yeti in that cave before your first encounter. Y'know the one. Where you think it's just a rock obscuring the camera and then it fucking moves. Shit, that totally got me.

I'm much more accepting of the supernatural this time. In the Drake's Fortune, going from really enjoyable gunfight to really enjoyable gunfight for 17 chapters and then having a bunch of zombies thrown at you for what I thought was no goddamn reason irritated the hell out of me. Up until that point, the game had shown no sign of buying into the supernatural, and I really liked that about it. Drake is making fun of all of the superstition and I figured it had no part of Uncharted's universe. Then zombies. Now, I know that the series allows for things like that and am much more willing to accept it from the sequel. I will say though, I find it a bit odd that Drake is so dismissive of the supernatural in this game, as if he hadn't been beset by zombie hordes a mere two years earlier. He still laughs all that stuff off, right up until

a demon yeti tries to rip his face off

. You'd think he'd be a bit more cautious around ancient legends this time around.

I like to avoid discussing graphics as much as possible, but it's very hard to avoid in this case. Game is pretty. Almost unbelievably so. Not to mention the platforming sections being genuinely heart-poundingly intense. Two words: Tibetan ruins. I was letting out an "oh shiiiiiit!" with every movement. A lot of places are calling this game of the year. I don't know if I'd go that far. It deserves a game of the year award about as much as the recent Star Trek movie would deserve a best picture award. Still, both are incredibly fun experiences and wonderful examples of what can be done with an excellent grasp of the craft of their medium. It's by no means intellectually stimulating, but damn if this game isn't an amazing experience. Highly recommended.

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Well damn. Just finished chapter 18. This game is fucking great. I knew there was going to be a supernatural element to this game, just like last time, but I didn't anticipate that it would freak me out as much as it does.

Goddamn demon yeti in that cave before your first encounter. Y'know the one. Where you think it's just a rock obscuring the camera and then it fucking moves. Shit, that totally got me.

I jumped a bit and swore at the game when that happened. Great placement of the camera for effect.

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>>Chloe

>>moist.

Anyway, I think the presentation of this game is fantastic, great use of camera angles, but I'm suspiciously uninterested in continuing the blasted thing. I'm on chapter seven, and I can see the improvements they've made, but it's so annoyingly linear and - if not one note - quite repetitive. I don't really mean in mechanics, because it mixes them up fairly well and the addition of sensibly limited stealth helps this, but the whole thing is one big funnel through and action film. Drake's climbing on a precarious/very high structure. OH NO THE POLE FELL DOWN/MASONRY CRUMBLED/BAR BROKE. Again. SHIT, SURPRISE ATTACK FROM BAD GUYS. Again.

It's not nearly as guilty as something like Killzone 2, and gets off a bit lighter because it is half-platformer, but there's no dynamism. The unexpected becomes predictable, and that just gets dull and irritating.

It's still good, I can see why people like it and I'll persevere, but I think this takes the "wish I was an action film" style game to its excusable limit.

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I've been crazily impressed so far, but I'm only just starting the third chapter (Quite a lot of gameplay just to get there!).

I hate to touch on this point so much, but fuck me this game looks good. Just as much because of the camera work as the actual fidelity, but jesus — easily the most visually stunning game of the generation I think.

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Man, I forgot to talk about the stealth. There's a section at the beginning of chapter 14 or 15 where you emerge from a temple unarmed and are faced with patrolling guards. The game expects you to off one, grab a gun and shoot the rest. Going Splinter Cell on those bastards was just so damned rewarding. Like, holy hell this game is good. I can't believe they integrated stealth into the game so well. I always go as long as I can picking off the guards one by one because it gives me a bit of a power trip. When I almost inevitably fuck it up though, I'm never hosed. Just dive for the nearest cover and keep playing as if it were Drake's Fortune or Gears of War. So well done.

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There's a section in the first Uncharted where you are encouraged to use stealth. (the church, I believe?) I remember replaying that section a lot and taking down like 6 dudes silently in a row, stealing their weapons, and then surprising the hell out of the three other dudes towards the back of the room. So satisfying.

I just tried picking up my pre-ordered copy of Uncharted 2 and they sold it. Kind of my fault for waiting so long (until I had the money) but I called them and told them to hold it. Bastards. :finger:

[update]: Success! Best Buy had one copy left. In the back. Then some Mom came in to pick it up to surprise her son with it. So I let her have it. Then! A truck arrived. And a display stand! And about 50 copies of Uncharted 2! Epic win.

Edited by GameDreamer

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I didn't play the first one but I bought this anyway, since people keep saying its good and I don't actually own any disc based games for my recently bought PS3. This being a PS3, It's installing a system update first, though.

Update: the update is complete.

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If you haven't played multiplayer yet, I would suggest giving it a try. It has some fun game modes, and even the standard deathmatch is a nice change of pace from the usual due to the platforming elements that carry over. Co-op's great, too.

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Juts completed a 6 (or 7 or 8? Can't remember) hour long session going from Chapter 2 to Chapter 25. Awesome game, a bit less well balanced than the first one : goes a bit more into Tomb "pushing blocks" Raider territory, features a tad too many cutscenes which are too close one from the next, there's a weird (or way too lenient ?) waypoint system that teleports where you haven't been yet

ruined the tank sequence for me

. The rest is awesome : they managed to improve the control schemes for grenades, the graphics are amazing.

Should rename it "Uncharted 2 : Shit breaks" for all the rotten things Drake keeps on using and that keeps on breaking under his weight.

Anyway, I gave up after 8 hours because Elena's AI insists that she be in plain sight during the river infiltration sequence.

And also, a minor character is named Shäfer. you now from Brütal Legend ?

Edited by vimes

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A lot of places are calling this game of the year. I don't know if I'd go that far. It deserves a game of the year award about as much as the recent Star Trek movie would deserve a best picture award. Still, both are incredibly fun experiences and wonderful examples of what can be done with an excellent grasp of the craft of their medium. It's by no means intellectually stimulating, but damn if this game isn't an amazing experience. Highly recommended.

Intellectually I know that Uncharted 2 probably doesn't deserve a GOTY, but in my heart I cannot come up with anything that I'd say deserves it more. It may not be the deepest experience but damn if it ain't satisfying.

Perhaps it is game of the year, but I can't say so for sure since I know I'm still a bit ga-ga over it.

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Yeah, Chloe's eyes are weirdly moist. I also think that some of the body proportions are a bit squished. It's almost as if they made a great model, decided it was too tall, and fixed it by reducing the "height" parameter without changing anything else.

Eyes across this game are weird. It looks like a different game exists in their eyeballs, which is composed entirely of reflected light. Oh well. The game looks great and is fun. Wish I didn't suck at all games, though.

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I've been a little luke warm on the single player so far (about 10 chapters in), but I started playing the co-op missions last night and they are fantastic. Could be my favorite co-op experience since L4D. Unfortunately there are only 3 missions, which seem to take about 20-30 mins to complete. I hope there are more you can unlock or more coming through dlc. They are pretty tough too. I've been playing them on easy and it's still a challenge.

I highly recommend you give it a try. And if anyone wants to play, friend up IUMogg.

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Why don't people want to talk about the graphics? I've virtually been having orgasms in my eyes. This game is phenomenal. There aren't enough superlatives to describe the amazingness of the graphics, and the design. I'm talking specifically about the Nepalese city. It is just so astonishingly gorgeous, I'm getting a huge amount of pleasure just from looking at it, I just love the way it seems like almost an entire city has been realised, every street and building looks unique, and the colours are absolutely wonderful, I love the colours used on the buildings and especially on the street signs, they are a constant delight to look at. I am really impressed by how far ahead of everything else that's out there the graphics seem to be in terms of realism and detail (including PC games), and how despite this the framerate is rock solid. Amazing game. Oh yeah, the gameplay is a lot of fun too, but it's the graphics which I'm getting the most enjoyment from. Incredible!

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I've been playing them on easy and it's still a challenge.

I was playing with a couple friends on Normal, and we died on our last try right at the end. It was such a good time that none of use cared.

The game looks great and is fun. Wish I didn't suck at all games, though.

Hey, at least they included a difficulty below Easy, right?

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Why don't people want to talk about the graphics? I've virtually been having orgasms in my eyes. This game is phenomenal. There aren't enough superlatives to describe the amazingness of the graphics, and the design. I'm talking specifically about the Nepalese city. It is just so astonishingly gorgeous, I'm getting a huge amount of pleasure just from looking at it, I just love the way it seems like almost an entire city has been realised, every street and building looks unique, and the colours are absolutely wonderful, I love the colours used on the buildings and especially on the street signs, they are a constant delight to look at. I am really impressed by how far ahead of everything else that's out there the graphics seem to be in terms of realism and detail (including PC games), and how despite this the framerate is rock solid. Amazing game. Oh yeah, the gameplay is a lot of fun too, but it's the graphics which I'm getting the most enjoyment from. Incredible!

Clean up in aisle 4.

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Why, oh why, must there be a boss fight at the end of each hero's journey? It's not even a coda when you look at what Uncharted 2 put me through :hmph: : I've been blowing helicopters up, derailing trains, facing minigun wielding colossus, fleeing from a raging truck, and I should consider shooting at explosive resin bulbs the crux of thrill? "What about you need to do that a gazillion times, wouldn't that be epic ?" Arrr, :finger:!

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Why, oh why, must there be a boss fight at the end of each hero's journey? It's not even a coda when you look at what Uncharted 2 put me through :hmph: : I've been blowing helicopters up, derailing trains, facing minigun wielding colossus, fleeing from a raging truck, and I should consider shooting at explosive resin bulbs the crux of thrill? "What about you need to do that a gazillion times, wouldn't that be epic ?" Arrr, :finger:!

While it did last a little too long, my main disappointment was right after the fight finished.

That crumbling bridge would have been a great escaping moment, but the occasionally weird platforming meant that I fell to my death about five times before making it across. It totally ruined the moment.

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Just played the train part, totally epic! If you'd asked me yesterday what gameplay cliches I hated most I definitely would have mentioned turrets and helicopters, yet when I reached the turret on the train I was actually excited! Talk about epic! I think it is probably the realism of the graphics which made me actually like the battle this time (though I would have preferred just to shoot the bastard helicopter rather than have to also shoot down rockets).

Yes I'm sorry for gushing so much, but after playing so many average games for so long it's nice to have something that stands out like this.

Got a bit stuck on the "Mountaineering" chapter just now and that was quite frustrating, one of the jumps looked much too far to make for some reason so I spent ages wondering where I was meant to go and wishing the hint system would pop up. Also I found the combat on the train level, both during the journey and in the areas before and after it, a wee bit too difficult, but still very enjoyable. Again, the realism of the graphics made the combat more enjoyable for me, because it looked so much like a film, it made it more exciting.

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God, I'm playing it on normal but the combat is BRUTALLY fucking difficult! Enemies constantly come at you from all directions, throwing grenades, meleeing, using turrets, firing rockets, and as soon as you think you've finished a wave off some guy will run up behind you and kick your face in, or jump out from behind a bookcase and slot you, I've died about 50 times on the village level, it's unrelenting! It is fun but I think I should have gone through on easy first time. Also I found the Heart of Ice platforming level a bit frustrating, but then I'm not really used to that kind of gameplay.

The graphics are still astounding though, and I keep expecting the framerate to dip but it's rock solid, it's an amazing technical achievement. It's almost as if the PS3 was purposely crippled at launch and Sony has only now revealed some secret API to Naughty Dog which lets them to utilise its full power...

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Am I doing something wrong, besides generally being bad at games and not expecting to have to shoot guys as often as I am?

I'd really like to be able to round the corner of a square pillar while staying against the wall. Anything I try to do to achieve this will cause my guy to either jump away from the wall, sprint to another pillar, or simply leave cover and start standing out in the open. Is there a way to just round that 90 degree angle without bouncing in and out of the cover mode?

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I'd really like to be able to round the corner of a square pillar while staying against the wall.

That's one of the huge caveat of the cover system, but I think forward + circle, then circle again might work.

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